Ban begins this week on sale of phosphate-laden dishwasher soap in Oregon, Washington
That was the headline blared today at the oregonian.com web site. The Oregon Legislature passed a law in 2009 that lowered the phosphorous limit for automatic dishwasher detergents from 8.7 percent to 0.5 percent. The headline read “laden”. At 0.5% that is a stretch.
Why? Because it is also fertilizer. In urban areas the effluent will eventually drain into streams, lakes, and wetlands, promoting algae growth and pond scum. This in turn can greatly remove oxygen from those areas killing small fish and aquatics , then bigger fish, then birds that feed on them, and all the way up the food chain. OH MY!
Years ago one could by TSP (trisodium phosphate) and use it to clean anything. It works by making things slippery. In order to remove dirt you must lubricate the surface of said dirty item and then using a solvent in the case of TSP, water. Your hand soap, shampoo, and dish-washing liquid all work on the same principle, in order to remove grease and grime you must lubricate and then flush with a solvent.
TSP is not toxic to humans, just like DDT. DDT kills malaria infected mosquitoes, without harming humans. It is a pity that millions have to die because of malaria, millions more must suffer dingy laundry because of the propaganda promoted that these simple chemicals can not be used wisely by man.
I know that not having your dishes or clothes as clean as you would like, pales in significance to all the dead babies dying every hour because of the global DDT ban, but at least you can rest assured that your elected officials are protecting the environment. I was under the impression that we lived in the same environment as well.
My argument is simple, these chemicals are not as bad as most have been told and believe, but are great tools for mankind to utilize – responsibly. It is sad that so many would sacrifice so many others so that they can glow in their warm and fuzzy feeling of “saving the whales”.
You claim DDT is not toxic? Got a study that says so?
It’s a shame that millions die from malaria because a few die-hards keep claiming that all we need to do is poison Africa to stop it. The reality is that DDT was good for temporarily reducing mosquito populations in order to allow public health systems to cure malaria in humans. Then, when the mosquitoes came roaring back, there would be no humans infected with malaria from whom the mosquitoes could draw the parasite to pass on.
But DDT is a deadly toxin. Fortunately it’s not a strong, acute toxin to humans. There are better alternatives to fight malaria.
It is inaccurate to claim DDT is not toxic to humans, however — see the report at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Plus, it’s wildly inaccurate to claim that “millions die” from a lack of DDT. Malaria death rates are less than half, now, what they were at the height of DDT use. And DDT is freely available, being used against malaria, where appropriate, today.
“But DDT is a deadly toxin.” Umm, not so much.
In the old days a truck would drive down the street spraying the stuff and kids would run after it, breathing the stuff. This happened all over the US during the fifties. I know for a fact Covina, and all of eastern L.A. county were areas regularly sprayed.
Fact:
DDT is classified as “moderately toxic” by the United States National Toxicology Program (NTP)[42] and “moderately hazardous” by the World Health Organization (WHO)
All based on lab tests, giving rats huge overdoses. I am not a rat, and I do not drink pure DDT as those animals did.
Fact:
Pure spring water will kill you if you drink too much.
“There are better alternatives to fight malaria.” We are waiting and would welcome something as effective as DDT. What are those alternatives? I see by your web site that one of those is using DDT indoors. Huh. My whole argument is using the chemistry that human kind has discovered rationally and responsibly.
See this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT#Effects_on_human_health